The European Commission sets new priorities (and we are glad about it)
The new European Commission structure, together with its designated candidates, is about to be set. Although maintaining the Juncker’s Commission structure, with clusters of commissioners led by vice presidents, the incoming President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen has decided to enlarge the number of vice-presidents and reassign priorities through a new composition.
There are 8 Vice Presidents, of which 3 have executive responsibilities: Economy, Digital and Sustainability; the latter two being new additions to the Commission’s overarching responsibilities, and reflecting President von der Leyen’s priorities as set in her July 16th speech.
The EU Commission is often perceived as an inertial and conservative institution. Yet recently, the new structure and priority dossiers display a change in how the EU approaches the future. Bold digital policies and a hard focus on sustainability are needed for the EU to overcome its current challenges; these priorities are now being internalized by most companies as well.
Glovo is a tech company proud to have been born in an EU country and to contribute to the EU tech ecosystem. With more than 800 employees in Spain, 1350 worldwide and aiming to hire 100 more in Engineering alone in the upcoming year, Glovo aims to create the biggest tech hub in Southern Europe. Building start-up hubs in Europe is key to bring new services, facilities and opportunities to all citizens, as well as to being a globally competitive economy. While the Union’s political focus for the past 5 years was understandably trained on other priorities, the incoming leadership team can, should and appears poised to change that.
The Commission and the upcoming Parliament also have a chance to support a competitive digital economy and also to do it the European way — and it should be seized. Between the North-American and Chinese ways of embracing technology, new realities need to be regulated to ensure they benefit all parties; only a future-proof, forward-thinking legislation can boost new realities and ensure they have a positive impact without stifling innovation.
On the other hand, this new commission is entering into force while the world is watching the United Nations trying to revive the Paris Agreement by holding a Climate Summit in New York on the 23rd of September. It also coincides with the publication of the last Eurobarometer on climate change stating that 93% of the Europeans see climate change as a serious problem, that is more than international terrorism.
The EU stands the best chance to build digital companies that are both globally competitive and accountable, both innovative and rooted in social responsibility, both transformational and promoting sustainable goals. For that we need rules governing the future of work that have not been written yet, frameworks that allow entrepreneurs to “fail fast” and try often, and a Green New Deal to accelerate the transition to a circular economy in which there are no unaccounted externalities.
The new Commission brings good expectations for an entrepreneurial, forward-looking digital and sustainable future; and as a responsible tech-first company, Glovo will also work for it.
